Vehicle motion controller via off-axis beam measurement

Abstract

A light-guided vehicle comprising: a platform; an optical sensor mounted to the platform, wherein the optical sensor is configured to image off-axis scatter of a photon beam; a processing unit mounted to the platform, wherein the processing unit is communicatively coupled to the platform and to the optical sensor, and wherein the processing unit is configured to monitor intensities of off-axis photons that are scattered by aerosol particles in a beam propagation path as measured by the optical sensor, and wherein the processing unit is further configured to maintain the platform within a vehicle path based on the monitored off-axis-photon intensities, wherein the vehicle path is offset from, and parallel to, the propagation path.

We claim: 
     
       1. A method of controlling a vehicle comprising:
 propagating a photon beam along a beam propagation path through a medium; 
 monitoring, with a vehicle-mounted sensor, intensities of off-axis photons that are scattered by aerosol particles in the beam propagation path; and 
 maintaining the vehicle within a vehicle path based on monitored off-axis-photon intensities, wherein the vehicle path is offset from, and parallel to, the propagation path. 
 
     
     
       2. The method of  claim 1 , wherein the medium is air, and further comprising using the vehicle to perform measurements of atmospheric conditions along the beam propagation path. 
     
     
       3. The method of  claim 2 , wherein the measurements of atmospheric conditions are performed at prescribed distances from a source of the photon beam. 
     
     
       4. The method of  claim 2 , wherein the propagation path is perpendicular to a surface of the Earth. 
     
     
       5. The method of  claim 4 , further comprising the step of maintaining the vehicle at a predetermined altitude. 
     
     
       6. The method of  claim 5 , wherein the maintaining step further comprises measuring a beam waist and maintaining the vehicle at an altitude associated with a predefined beam waist measurement. 
     
     
       7. The method of  claim 1 , wherein no satellite navigation system is used by the vehicle. 
     
     
       8. The method of  claim 7 , wherein the vehicle is configured to navigate based solely on monitored off-axis-photon intensities independent of mapping or tomographic data. 
     
     
       9. The method of  claim 1 , wherein the vehicle comprises:
 an optical sensor configured to image off-axis scatter of the photon beam; and 
 a processing unit capable of inputting and outputting numerical computations. 
 
     
     
       10. The method of  claim 9 , wherein the vehicle further comprise an accelerometer and or a gyroscope communicatively coupled to the processing unit. 
     
     
       11. The method of  claim 9 , wherein the vehicle is a unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV). 
     
     
       12. The method of  claim 1 , wherein the maintaining step further comprises measuring a beam waist, and wherein the vehicle is configured to operate in one of three modes:
 a) move along the vehicle path until a predefined beam waist is measured; 
 b) return to an origin point; and 
 c) station keep at a given location along the vehicle path corresponding to a given beam waist measurement. 
 
     
     
       13. The method of  claim 1 , wherein the maintaining step further comprises measuring a beam waist, and further comprising the step of configuring the vehicle to return to a point of origin when the beam waist drops below a threshold. 
     
     
       14. The method of  claim 1 , wherein the vehicle is configured to use a stereoscopic machine vision system to triangulate the photon beam in three dimensions from side-scattered off-axis photons. 
     
     
       15. The method of  claim 1 , wherein the medium is a liquid. 
     
     
       16. The method of  claim 1 , wherein the photon beam is a laser. 
     
     
       17. The method of  claim 16 , wherein the photon beam is a high energy laser. 
     
     
       18. The method of  claim 16 , wherein the laser emanates from a hand-held laser pointer. 
     
     
       19. A light-guided vehicle comprising:
 a platform; 
 an optical sensor mounted to the platform, wherein the optical sensor is configured to image off-axis scatter of a photon beam; 
 a processing unit mounted to the platform, wherein the processing unit is communicatively coupled to the platform and to the optical sensor, and wherein the processing unit is configured to monitor intensities of off-axis photons that are scattered by aerosol particles in a beam propagation path as measured by the optical sensor, and wherein the processing unit is further configured to maintain the platform within a vehicle path based on the monitored off-axis-photon intensities, wherein the vehicle path is offset from, and parallel to, the propagation path. 
 
     
     
       20. The laser-guided vehicle of  claim 19 , wherein the processing unit is further configured to measure a beam waist of the photon beam.